What would make Toronto a more desirable tourist destination?

The video is a dismal piece of work, but its cluelessness can give us some insight into how Toronto is seen abroad — or not seen. In “Top 5 Travel Attractions of Toronto, Canada,” found on the Huffington Post website, the host stands in front of stock photos and talks about a city she has probably never visited. She breezes through the list of places to visit: No. 5, Casa Loma, which she pronounces wrong; No. 4 is the ROM (sure); No. 3 is Old City Hall (a puzzling choice); No. 2 is the CN Tower (makes sense). The top spot goes to Niagara Falls, which isn’t located in Toronto at all.

The video underscores a simple point about Toronto: People around the world have no idea what’s here.

Moreover, what is here isn’t enough, according to Gabor Forgacs of Ryerson University’s tourism faculty. “[Locals] tend to believe that Toronto is … a more attractive destination than it actually is,” he says. “Toronto is a place that a well-travelled tourist can do in a day or two.”

The idea of freshening up and adding to Toronto’s attractions has energized local leaders. The Ripley’s Aquarium set to open next to the CN Tower in summer 2013 won’t be enough. The Mayor and his brother included tourist bait in their ill-fated waterfront plan last fall. A panel led by John Tory has been tasked with finding a new purpose for the waterfront grounds of the tired Ontario Place grounds, giving Toronto a prime opportunity to create something new and exciting — the “must-visit” attraction the province says it wants, on what will presumably be a limited budget.

What exactly would get Toronto noticed internationally? Below, we explore some ideas from around the world for rejuvenating Toronto’s attractions for locals and visitors alike.

A GIANT FERRIS WHEELEmulating: London
The Brothers Ford included a wink to the famous London Eye in their vision of the waterfront. A copy is unlikely to make foreigners look at Toronto again. Besides which, we don’t need a giant Ferris wheel to capture vistas of a city that already has the much taller CN Tower.

A PARKEmulating: Chicago
Green space by the water is in vogue internationally. There are Waterfront Toronto’s various projects of the future, as well as Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay and New York’s Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Chicago’s Millennium Park project took a rusty patch of rail yards and parking lots and converted it to a landscaped park to thrill grown-ups, with a bandshell designed by Frank Gehry and the now-famous Cloud Gate sculpture by Anish Kapoor (a.k.a. The Bean).

A 2005 consultant’s report said Millennium Park will create hundreds of jobs and generate upwards of US$1.9-billion in local spending from 2005-2015, while creating US$1.4-billion in real estate value for nearby developments. Adding to its political appeal is the fact that the “philanthropic community” — including sponsors such as Boeing — ponied up roughly half the reported cost of nearly US$500-million.

A FUN, SCHLOCKY PIEREmulating: Several U.S. and U.K. cities
Tacky seaside fun is the theme at San Francisco’s Pier 39 and while athletic activities have found a home at New York’s Chelsea Piers. And there are the piers of Brighton and Blackpool in England. Visitors eat fish and chips (or similar) while poking around for cheesy souvenirs as the kids enjoy rides and games.

Canadians have yet to embrace the British-American notion of a salty, greasy boardwalk. (Toronto’s Polson Pier isn’t really the same concept, though it could be considered a very distant cousin of Chelsea Piers.) What better place to start than the artificial land across a bridge from the Canadian National Exhibition?
While it wouldn’t literally be a pier, the important thing is that people like candy floss and deep-fried seafood. For all the hoity-toity appeal of Millennium Park’s sculptures and architecture, the relatively kitschy Navy Pier remains Chicago’s most visited attraction.

A RICH MAN’S ART COLLECTIONEmulating: Mexico City
Thanks to the generosity of Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, the Mexican capital now boasts the sleek and unusual-looking Museo Soumaya. Opened last year, it cost a reported US$70-million to build. Entry is free.

Toronto may not have a billionaire offering to build us a gallery, but we do have a millionaire volunteering his stuff — assuming the offer stands. In 2008, at the opening of the ROM’s South Asian Gallery, Sri Lankan-Canadian-British businessman and author Sir Christopher Ondaatje implied he would give his priceless collection of thousands of South Asian artifacts to whichever locale built him a museum. Like, say, Toronto.

“A lot of people are trying to get [my collection] from me,” he hinted, “particularly the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.” Ondaatje probably cannot afford to build a fancy edifice on his own. He likened his offer to that of the late Ken Thomson, who donated the bulk of his priceless art collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario. In turn, the AGO raised the $276-million for a facelift and expansion. “In the end, they had to build it for him,”

Ondaatje said in 2008. Hint, hint.

NEW, INTERESTING MUSEUMSEmulating: Seattle
Ryerson’s Gabor Forgacs argues that Toronto’s collection of museums and galleries simply isn’t impressive enough, despite the renovations and acclaim. He wants to see more investment.

For example: “Seattle has the museum of rock music, the EMP Museum. That is a major demand driver,” Forgacs says. “It’s also … reinventing the concept of what a museum is. It’s not just a repository of artifacts, it’s a living thing,” and continually hosts events.

Forgacs says a museum of telecommunications could work in Toronto. Or a museum about ice and snow, to capitalize on the Canadian climate.

Or how about a museum dedicated to First Nations cultures? Or food? The point is, evidence suggests the more museums clustered into an area, the more they boost each other’s visitor numbers, and local economic activity generally. Also, cultural tourists spend more money than the average.

SOME NEW IDEAEmulating: Ourselves
One school of thought says local ingenuity could create something that is uniquely Torontonian, drawing upon the city’s strengths — for example, multiculturalism and/or food.

Toronto-based tourism management consultant Rachel Dodds wishes we would stop playing copycat. “Don’t try to copy another city; do look at what’s unique about Toronto and capitalize on that,” says Dodds, who also teaches at Ryerson University. “Involve Torontonians and ask them what they want.”